Evaluating the repatriation of long-term captive and confiscated eastern box turtles: Movement, Reproduction, and vertical transmission of ranavirus

Collection for the illegal wildlife trade is a major threat to turtles, and efforts to combat trade lead to large confiscations and the surrender of long-term captive (LTC) turtles. However, most confiscated and surrendered turtles are not ultimately released into the wild, owing to concerns over their ability to thrive post-release and potential disease risks. We translocated a group of confiscated eastern box turtles (n=208) followed by a second group of LTCs (n=35) from 2019–2021 onto the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. We monitored 1) the survival and space use of LTC and sympatric resident turtles, 2) reproductive output and genetic integration in confiscated, LTC, and resident turtles, and 3) the vertical transmission of ranavirus in our system. Our results broadly indicate that the translocation of confiscated and LTC turtles may be an effective component to local population recovery, presuming disease risks can be managed.